Examines John Dewey’s ideas in the context of evolutionary theory.

_Examines John Dewey’s ideas in the context of evolutionary theory._.

John Dewey’s famous early twentieth-century account of the relationship between education as growth and democratic societies, presented in Democracy and Education, was later rejected by him, because it failed to properly identify the role of societal structures in growth and experience. In the later Ethics, Dewey attempts to correct that omission, and adumbrates the argument required to reconstruct his theory, which is an appeal to the role of institutions in individual growth and experience. It is the contention of this paper (...) that the inadequacy Dewey finds in his early account is more comprehensively explained by means of recent analyses in philosophy of society, especially John Searle’s ontological analysis. Following in Dewey’s direction, a more complete analysis of the role of society in the theory of growth is presented in terms of the deontological analysis of institutions. It is suggested that the current analyses in philosophy of society provide the means for the completion of Dewey’s views of both growth and experience, making Dewey’s account more useful today than it was a century ago. (shrink)

Jerome A. Popp examines the role of Dewey-based pragmatism in the past, present, and future of philosophy of education.

John Dewey's analyses of the relationships among ethical theory, intellectual-growth, and the nature of democratic societies are of continuing interest to social and political philosophers, especially those who hold an evolutionary view of these inquiries. The ontological analysis of society and social facts, recently advanced by John Searle, provides us with an alternative way to approach Dewey's thought that is at variance with traditional Deweyan scholarship. While Dewey's arguments are not changed, through Searle's social ontology we can see them differently, (...) which further reveals the complex nature of democratic intentionality. (shrink)

Growth, the central concept in Dewey's ethical naturalism, is typically ignored in commentary on his philosophic analyses. When growth is overlooked, as it is by some of Dewey's most competent reviewers, his treatment of other concepts such as democracy and equality cannot be fully appreciated or understood. Underestimating the pivotal role of growth in Dewey's thinking weakens his account of philosophic naturalism, in which there is current interest in the philosophic literature. It is Dewey's concept of growth and the analyses (...) radiating from it that makes his work significant for the present century. (shrink)

John Dewey’s analysis of the role of emotion in moral reasoning, presented in the later Ethics, led him to conclude that our development of moral reasoning should be less focused on the secondary interest of attention to ourselves or others, and attend to the more complete interests of the welfare and integrity of the social groups in which we participate. In that analysis, Dewey identified the essential role of empathic understanding in moral decisions, referred to by neuroscientists as social intelligence. (...) Dewey’s discussion of the essential role of emotion in these decisions is further supported by research in neuroscience which has established that general intelligence is located in an area of the brain distinct from the area that supports social intelligence, our capacity for empathic experience. These findings suggest that the presence of individuals with developed social intelligence in the groups in which we participate provide increased opportunities for growth. (shrink)